Nothing is Unconditional
by The Tox
Summary: But sweetums, it's the day of love!" Toad tries so hard to snatch Wanda's heart, and now that it is Valentine's Day, will he succeed? Toad x Wanda
1. Nothing is Unsurprising

"Happy valentine's day, sweetums!" The speaker was Todd Tolansky, aka the Toad. The place was Wanda Maximoff's room. The time was 6 a.m., on the 14th of February.

Following the loud words a scream came, as Toad was flung out of Wanda's room by a hex-spell.

Despite being a loser accustomed to failure, Toad was very lousy at giving up. That is why he re-entered Wanda's room, and jumped out of the way as she tried to hex him again.

"Baby cakes, come on, it's a day of love!" he exclaimed and managed to avoid her hexes far enough to reach her bed. He was unable to flee from her punch then, but managed to drop the flowers he had been carrying before he hit the wall. Wanda, in her red night gown, sat up in the bed and got up. She picked up the flower – red roses, how original – and looked at Toad who was halfway through the wall. With a hex she pulled him back in, only to throw him out the door again before he was able to say as much as "cuddles".

After closing the door and hoping Toad would catch the drift, Wanda turned on her the lamp on her bedside table and studied the roses. After having been carried by Toad they probably reeked, but like everyone who lived in the same house as he she was used to the smell. The flowers however had withered somewhat, possibly because of Toad's lacking hygiene. Nevertheless, Wanda thought of the roses as beautiful. A shame Toad had been the one to give them to her.

Soon Wanda was dressed, and exited her room with the roses in her hand. It was too early for anyone else to be up, and she probably wouldn't have woken either had Toad not barged into her room. But it was all good, since she did not enjoy eating breakfast with Fred. Sadly, there was no escaping Toad's company.

Upon entering the kitchen Wanda smelled something she had never smelt before in the Brotherhood Boarding House; cooked food. Usually it was pizza or other fast food that was consumed, but now it smelled bacon and eggs. It was with curious and doubting eyes that Wanda peaked into the kitchen, which was now partly cleaned up with Toad by the stove.

Toad noticed Wanda's presence and turned with a huge grin, showing all of his rotten and unhealthy teeth.

"Baby! I made you breakfast", he said cheerfully, and pointed at the ready laid table. With hesitation Wanda sat down, placing the flowers on the table, still in disbelief. Toad took the frying pan with the food off the stove and served his "baby". Wanda was too uncaring, or uninterested, to ask "what about you?"

The breakfast was eaten in silence, as Wanda seemed to suspect poison in the food, and Toad just found himself staring at her like a lovesick puppy. It was then that Wanda noticed the smoke from the stove, which Toad of course had forgotten to turn off.

"Toad, get away from the kitchen range!" Wanda shouted, and Toad was quick to listen. When he was out of the way, and the stove seemed to determine on what to do, Wanda hexed it and shut it down. Instead of receiving gratitude in form of a "thank you; I'll let you be alone now" Toad jumped to her and gave her a large hug.

"Sweetums, you do care!" he insisted. Wanda grunted, and attempted to shove him away, but her eyes fell to the roses that glared at her with affection. So the one-sided hug lasted, until Toad started to feel awkward, and finally pulled away.

"Uh, Wanda? Are you all right yo?" he asked. Wanda's eyes wandered to the bouquet of roses, and then the plate of bacon and eggs, and finally her glance rested upon Toad's unsightly face. It was weird, but she felt as if she owed him something.

Wanda studied Toad's face until he really started to freak out, so she spoke. "Would you go out with me tonight?" Neither of them could believe what she was saying; especially Toad. His mouth hung open and his eyes were enormous.

Finally the silence got to Wanda who got up and decided to rush off to her room to cover her embarrassment. Was she being rejected by Toad, her self pronounced "servant" and "slave"? A hand on her arm effectively stopped her. She looked dared to look back and saw Toad, still wide-eyed.

"You're not foolin' with me, are ya?" he asked. It was a serious question, totally out of character in Wanda's opinion. She replied by shocking her head, making Toad grin his old goofy smile again.

"Then it's a date!" He almost seemed to burst of excitement as he tried to hug her again, only to be shoved away this time. Wanda left and slammed her door right before Toad could follow her. Just as his face dropped, he could hear how she shouted through the door; "We're leaving at 7 p.m."


	2. Nothing is Unavoidable

"Are you out of your mind?" The speaker was Pietro Maximoff, aka Quicksilver. The place was outside of Wanda Maximoff's room. The time was 11 a.m., on the 14th of February.

Pietro continued to knock and yell until he tried just opening the door, which succeeded. He entered and went to Wanda's bed, where she was hurled up in a corner.

"Wanda, are you okay?" he asked with some kind of forced concern.

"I'm fine", Wanda replied. Her back was to Pietro, and her voice was spiteful. "Leave." Pietro knew that if she turned violent, he could always speed off quickly, so there was no need to leave until then.

"Toad has been boasting around that you asked him out… is that true?" Pietro prayed that it was false, which is why his face dropped when Wanda said "yes". "What? Why?!"

"It's none of your business!" Wanda yelled and now turned to face her brother. "Leave!" Pietro fled faster than lightening, only to bump into Toad who was in the hallway. He simply grinned, a large, disgusting, grin.

"Do you even have a driver license?" The speaker was Lance Alvers, aka Avalanche. The place was the hall of the Brotherhood's Boarding House. The time was 6.45 p.m., on the 14th of February.

Wanda glared at him and snatched the car keys out of his grip mercilessly. She gaited out through the door.

"Hey!" Lance followed her and finally gripped her wrist. "You can't just take my jeep, Wanda", he said, very calmly, even if the calm was obviously forced.

"You don't tell me what to do", Wanda replied and hexed him so that he flew back into the house, and a loud crash was heard. Quickly Lance was back on his feet and stormed after her, but was this time stopped by Toad who jumped in his way.

"Come on yo, we're going on a date", he pleaded.

"She can't drive! And it's my jeep", Lance said and grabbed Toad by his collar, making him yelp as usual. "So you can tell your _date_ that-"

"Take your hands off him", said Wanda. Once again she hexed him into the wall and walked to the car. It was impossible for Toad not to stick his tongue out at Lance, but the consequence of getting avalanched out of the house was also unavoidable.

Wanda started up the jeep, and Toad jumped into it. He was overly excited, but also felt somewhat unsure. After all, Wanda did not have a driver license… And she had been in a mental institution for more than half of her life.

The drive to the restaurant Wanda had chosen was a wild one indeed. Many times Wanda mostly hexed her way forward, causing probably five multiple collisions and one or more crashes. After only half an hour, she turned to Toad in frustration.

"Do you know how to drive?"

"Ask and I will serve, my crimson cutie", Toad replied and grinned. Wanda made a disgusted face, but stopped the car at once. It caused the car behind her to brake suddenly, and she was the cause of yet another car crash.

Before anyone had the time to get the registration sign of Lance's jeep, or the time to make a call to the police, Wanda and Toad switched place and drove away at top speed. Surprisingly, Toad was not a terrible driver. True, he did not obey any traffic law, but he did not crash or cause anyone else to do so, much to Wanda's surprise.

They arrived at the restaurant Wanda had picked out from an ad in the newspaper; Glocken Gold, at 7.35 p.m. However, they were not well received.

"You're mutants, aren't you?" a customer questioned loudly as they were seated, probably due to Toad's jumping. The other guests started to ask the same question, and even though Wanda glared at them very angrily one spoke up.

"I'm not having dinner with mutants!" A riot was soon under way, but it backfired on those responsible. Wanda was simply no person you messed with, and she was no person who would back down because of some complaints. When the waiters threatened to call the police if they did not leave, Wanda decided that the proper thing to do was make the kitchen explode before taking off, and preventing the dinner guests and personnel from leaving the burning restaurant. Toad was very impressed as always by his "crimson cutie", and felt very smug about the fact that she was his girlfr- err, date.

Both Wanda and Toad were hungry as they drove off, and it was already 8 p.m. They decided to settle for the next best _restaurant_; a McDonalds – how romantic – for food. They ordered in the drive through and stopped the car on a lonely road with only three streetlamps; one which they parked by.

Needless to say, it was not the romantic dinner two people should share on a date, on Valentine's Day especially. But to Toad they could have eaten bugs in a quagmire for all he cared… Preferably.

Toad finished his burger before Wanda, and spent the rest of the meal just gazing at her. She seemed annoyed after a while, and finally spoke.

"Why do you persist on liking me?" Wanda asked when she finished her Big Mac. Her voice was deep and confused, but her frustrated eyes rested upon her hands rather than lingering into Toad's.

"Come on yo", Toad mewled with a short-lived chuckle. Wanda looked up at him with a critical stare, and raised a bow. "Well, you… You're so strong, y'know." Wanda's stare got even more critical. "I mean, you don't let yourself be pushed around, and you don't take shit from anyone." He tried to swallow his nervousness. "Y'know."

Silence once again filled the gap as Toad's face dropped and he seemed bothered and depressed almost. Granted, he probably had more reasons than anyone to be, but he was not the kind of person to take pity on himself, no matter how pathetic as he was.

Wanda however pitied him for the first time. As disgusting and repulsing as he was, he was probably the only person save for her loving father who cared genuinely for her. No matter how ridiculous his pet names became, or how tragic his yelps due to pain sounded, he was a strangely sensible person, and a miserable fellow.

Still it is not clear what kind of unearthly powers that possessed Wanda, when she reached out a hand and stroked Toad's gloomy face, and brought it up so that their eyes met. It didn't take long until his face turned hot enough for him to be feverish.

"Cup cakes?" He asked in a sweetly concerned voice.

"Shut up", Wanda replied, but her words held no meaning. And then, randomly, or maybe due to some unpredictable fate, she kissed him.


	3. Nothing is Unmotivated

There was no speaker. There was no place. There was no time. There was only Todd Tolansky and Wanda Maximoff, kissing in a jeep at 8 p.m. on Valentine's Day.

When they finally parted, Wanda feared that she would be disgusted once the realization of her actions sank in. It was with unwilling and uncertain courage that she opened her eyes and gazed into Toad's. And she felt neither disgust nor terror, for she could only find love in his stare. Obsessive and stalking love, sure, but love nonetheless.

Toad was unable to make out Wanda's confused expression, so he shifted doubtingly. He wondered if he had done something wrong, after all, he had never been with a girl before. Only when he was in disguise as a beautiful ski instructor had he kissed anyone, and that ended pretty badly, or so he thought. But he noticed that Wanda had yet to shove him away, or hex him out of the car.

"Snookums?" he asked and then bit his lip. Wanda seemed focused again, and glared without much of her famous passion.

"Wanda", she corrected him. With a meek smile, he repeated her.

"What's wrong, yo?" Toad asked. When Wanda gave him no answer, he put a shaky hand on her shoulder. He was so close now; he could not afford to mess up again. He was lucky that there were no flies nearby.

"N-nothing", Wanda said, snapping out once more from her trance. It was no exaggeration saying that she was confused.

Silence filled the gap nicely, until a car drove them by in high speed. It bugged them both, but it was gone before they could do anything about it.

Then Wanda kissed Toad again. His eyes widened for a moment, before he closed them. When Wanda put her right hand around his neck, he let the hand he rested on Wanda's shoulder grip harder, and he pulled her as close as he dared.

The kiss deepened, much to their surprise. It was new, and confusing, but absolutely not bad. And when they parted this time, and opened their eyes again, Wanda did not see the Toad, but rather Todd. She remembered a bed time story that her father had read her once, about the girl who kissed a toad. The toad was turned into a prince.

After studying the boy that she now saw, however, she realized he was no prince. But then again, she was not a princess, but a witch. Maybe it was fitting.

After a sigh, Wanda said "Todd…" with the kind of voice girls use when telling the boy that they're not interested in him.

"'m sorry!" he said quickly in his defense. "I'll... I'll drive ya-"

Wanda put glared her usual "shut up" glare, so he stopped his unmotivated apology.

"I was... gonna say", she continued with a very forced voice, and her eyes once again focused on something that was not Todd. Even if her memories of the mental institution were long gone, it did not change the fact that she had severe problems when dealing with emotions, and aside for anger or annoyance, she was completely unused to them.

"Do you need a hug?" Todd asked smugly, feeling more confident now that he knew she was not mad at him. She probably even liked the kiss, even if not as much as he did. When Wanda tried to find the words instead of replying him, he went ahead and embraced her anyway. Getting shoved away was unavoidable.

After feeling sorry for himself some more, Wanda spoke again.

"I was just going to say that I... do not regret going out with you." It had taken Wanda a whole lot of courage to utter those controlled words. She looked at Todd with one of the most vulnerable looks she could muster, as if seeking some sort of acknowledgment.

"Babycakes-"

"Wanda."

"Wanda!"

What happened next was the most surprising yet, as Todd took the initiative to a kiss. Naturally, Wanda pulled away, but only for a short second that did not matter. Her eyes were tight shut instead of calmly closed, and her mouth was formed in a scowl, but after a while she relaxed and let him kiss her. And she kissed back. Of course, that took a while to happen, but when it did the kiss evolved into the best and most enjoyable yet. Probably because they now knew each other better, and saw each other clearer. Or they were just horny teenagers, but what the heck, the kiss was still amazing to both parts.

Parting was difficult, but needed. Wanda had no time to rethink her actions or comprehend just what was happening to her before they kissed again, and again, and again. Todd too was unable to fully realize what an outstanding event that was taking place.

The strangest part to Todd was something he didn't even think of himself. Every time his dry lips met with Wanda's scarlet-painted ones, and every time his toad-tongue danced with hers, he grew more confident. Not in a way that he thought "Wanda likes me so I must be awesome" but the opposite. Never once did he think "Oh my god, Wanda's kissing me yo", but it came as natural, like it was meant to be. He did not feel inferior, just like that single instant when they had shared their first kiss.

So the kissing was multiple, and the tension rose. And everything else that happened that night was kept a secret, though many intelligent minds pondered on it for decades.

"I can't believe they're not home yet!" The speaker was Lance Alvers, aka Avalanche. The place was the Brotherhood Boarding house. The time was 2 a.m., on the 15th of February.

"What could happen between them anyway?" Pietro snickered. "I know Wanda's nuts, but she has her limits."

"I'm worried about my ride! They better haven't crashed it", Lance said in a frustrated voice. It was bad enough Toad was out on a date when he was stuck home, but Kitty was mad at him too for not having picked her up as he had promised. It had been the worst Valentine's Day since… any other Valentine's day.

Not so surprisingly, Fred had not been out on a date. Pietro had been to three, but they had all ended by now. So the three of them were just waiting in the living room in front of the TV, and had been doing so for the last half hour. That was when they heard the sound of a jeep parking.

Lance was the first one to get out of the couch, but Pietro still beat him to the door. He opened it too, just to see his twin sister and Toad, still sitting in the jeep. Kissing.

The first thought that crossed Lance's mind was the relief of seeing the car undamaged. But soon his short-lived relief turned into anger; because of Toad that clown he had missed his date with Kitty.

"Get out of my car!" he screamed angrily and attempted to shake the earth up a bit before Pietro stopped him. He was Wanda's brother after all, and had a feeling she would greatly dislike any interruptions of her… kiss. But it was too late.

As soon as the kiss ended Wanda's glare at Lance started. She got out of the car before a snickering Toad did, and walked up to the door.

"You got a problem?" she asked in her infamous angry-voice. But somehow, it lacked that usual frustration that she always had. This did not in anyway make her point less clear however.

Lance wanted to start an argument, but Pietro's hand over his mouth stopped his actions to object. He did not stop his own mouth from running.

"So how was the date?" he questioned. It felt like something that he just had to ask in a snicker even though he had just witnessed a quite passionate kiss.

Wanda's reply was surprising, no, _very_ surprising even. Toad, no, Todd, had caught up with her and joined in with her grimace that very strongly said "Wouldn't you like to know?"

The most terrifying, and mentally scarring, turn of events of that long night was when Todd followed Wanda into her room and she did not hex him out of it. Maybe love isn't unconditional, but the rest of the Brotherhood's despair was.


End file.
